Q: Hey Dougie, maybe this Hassan Adams kid will turn into this year's sleeper. Now, I'm not the type to get fooled by a player's highlight reel. Obviously, (a clip I’ve seen) doesn't give a representative picture of the guy's overall game. HOWEVER... this guy isn't afraid to take it to the hole, and knows how to finish! The clip shows about five or six muscular, in-traffic slashes and dunks, which by my count is five or six more times than Moon did it last year. That alone endears the kid to me. But throw in the tenacious D that he is known for and I can see this guy maybe getting starter minutes at some point, probably at the 2 at AP's expense, but maybe even at SF. You agree?

A: I have no idea what Hassan Adams will end up doing here, or who’ll he’ll supplant in the rotation but I do know that my respected friend Dave D’Alessandro in New jersey says Adams being cut was one of the most egregious personnel errors the Nets have made in years and that the Raptors brass who saw him at the free agent camp here were determined to sign him after about the second practice session.

I fully expect him to challenge Parker for minutes, if not the starting job at some time during the season based on what I’ve been told.

wow.
is this kid really as good as all the hype?
i hope so, and if he is good enough to steal the starters spot from AP, then that would be great!
AP is a team guy with no grudges, he'd accept it and be a weapon off the bench for us.

but in reality, i cant see this guy being that good that he'll start in fron tof AP. Ap is way too consistant. and we always need a hussler/work horse off the bench like Adams can be for us.

Yup. Apparently Adams is a lot better than expected. I'm just as surprised as all of you guys. Who would've possibly thought AP would've got his SG starter position taken? No one. But this is actually great news. At least now we don't have to depend on AP as much.

But you're right INSIDER, I can't possibly see AP playing behind Hassan. He's just too much of a good and consistent player.

Ya. that's some lofty praise for a player who came in via a free agent tryout.

I mean even with Moon, we were all initially thinking he'd be lucky to get off the bench nad be a significant contributor.

If Adams does bring something of significance to the team, or challanges Parker for his starter's role, then our scouting department and Collangelo will NBA royalty of finding diamonds in the rough. giddyup.

and if he starts, he pushes moon to the bench. we can't have both on the floor together. while i'm a huge advocate of defence, it would never work having both your wingers having no outside shot. defenses would just swarm Bosh and o'neal.

if you read what smith said, he said from what he's been told, and that means nothing depending on who you're listening to.

i was just about to ask; how tall is he?
why the hell would he push AP to the bench over Moon?
if anyone would lose their starters job, it would be Moon.
arent the two very similar styled players? hard nosed D, athletic, blue-collar types?
having both starting and playing together would be redundant.
you cant possibly think Moon would start over AP, so why would Hassan? if anything Hassan would take Moon's spot.

Id love AP on the second unit, but if adams starts then so must Kapono. The teem needs at least 1 threat to shoot other that Jose and Kaps is the best shooter on the team. Jose, Adams, Kaps, Bosh and Oneil> starters
Ukic, AP, Moon, Bargs, and one of either JO/Bosh off bench is a well balanced team.

IMHO, with JO and Bosh starting up front, we are more likely to see Kapono start at SF over Moon than to see Adams starting at SG over Parker.

Think about it - with "twin towers redux" pretty much demanding double-teams in the post, you'd want to spread the floor as much as possible with 3-point shooters, right? Well, unless Adams became a long-distance threat in Europe, I'd say that Jose-AP-Kapono as 1-2-3 puts our opponents between the rock and the hard place like there is no tomorrow.

I think Parker would still be better if it would have to come down to 3pt shooting. But I could agree with you on the Kapono starting in front of Moon part. But I wouldn't put AP and Kapono together. It's either gotta be:

IMHO, with JO and Bosh starting up front, we are more likely to see Kapono start at SF over Moon than to see Adams starting at SG over Parker.

Think about it - with "twin towers redux" pretty much demanding double-teams in the post, you'd want to spread the floor as much as possible with 3-point shooters, right? Well, unless Adams became a long-distance threat in Europe, I'd say that Jose-AP-Kapono as 1-2-3 puts our opponents between the rock and the hard place like there is no tomorrow.

I would be more happy if we put at the same time AP and Moon or Adams and Kapono, I mean, there you have a 3 pointer shooter and a good defender (if Adams is that defender) in each combination, making more complete the backcourt in each rotation.

Yeah, what Major says ( haven't read your post before posting the mine).

Well Im not, I am saying that having his scoring ability matched up against bench players on the other team will bolster a line of Moon,Bargs and Ukic who will have more difficulty scoring. Not to mention adding AP to the second unit will help Ukic adjust to the new league and will allow Bargs to play with someone he is used to. Interior defense will suck off the bench but perimeter should be decent with Ukic, AP and Moon.

If Adams was the starting SG, Kapono would be our starting SF. It makes a lot of sense to have one defender, one scorer on the wing. Finally we have role distribution.

It's not really a big deal because all 4 of our main wing guys are good back-ups on a contender, we just don't have anyone better. But even so, I don't think we're as weak at the position as people think. Parker and Moon (who I think will be the starters) don't put up flashy numbers, but they do their job and play good defense. Hopefully Adams fits in there too, and Kapono is just a great shooter to join them.

I think our biggest hole is big men off the bench. You need a player or two more dependable than Hump, Bargs, and Jawai, especially when your franchise guys don't play over 70 games. I wish we still had the MLE to grab at least one veteran there.

^^Agreed Parker and Moon will be the starters-Moon works much better on the starting unit than off the bench as it gives him some opportunity to get the ball going inside earlier on when gameplay is loose-it builds his confidence. Not to mention I love the idea of Moon roaming on defense when JO and Bosh is gaurding down low. Raps may become a team that could actually be considered a shot blocking threat